Big cities can't accommodate the body, small cities can't accommodate the soul

The new generation of "city returnees" embarks on the road back home with dreams

Stories of returning from first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier small cities to start businesses are happening everywhere across the country.

Even this year, the number of entrepreneurs in the reverse migration back home continues to rise. According to CCTV News, as of the end of March this year, the cumulative number of people starting businesses by returning to hometowns or rural areas nationwide has reached over 11.2 million. It is expected that by 2025, the number of various returnees and rural entrepreneurs nationwide will exceed 15 million.

Among the return-to-hometown entrepreneurship projects, the auto aftermarket has also become a "hot cake" that many people are vying for.

1. City Return: The Aftermarket in Lower-Tier Cities is More "Tempting"

According to a survey by iiMedia Research, driven by policies and the improvement of the national economic level, lower-tier cities have become new growth points for the automotive industry, with a compound annual growth rate of passenger car sales reaching 30.4%, surpassing first- and second-tier cities.

The increase in vehicle ownership correspondingly brings an expansion of the aftermarket blue ocean. For some ambitious young people, instead of mental exhaustion in big cities, it's better to "pan for gold" at low cost in small places.

Taking opening an auto parts store as an example, doing it in a big city versus a small place involves completely different costs and risks. On tangible expenses like store rent, utilities, labor, and miscellaneous fees, small cities offer costs that are affordable for ordinary people within their capabilities, which may be more attractive.

Data source: Compiled from online sources

On one side is the visible market potential, on the other is the temptation of low cost and low risk. Many people have sniffed out the opportunity, and 90s-born young man Zou Haoyu（《The Auto Parts Dream of a Veteran Soldier | Unfading After Discharge, Daring to Be the First to Eat the Crab》） is one of them.

Before returning home to start a business, Xiao Zou served in the military. In 2012, while in the army, he took an 8-month vehicle maintenance course, and the following year he studied large-scale repair and refurbishment techniques at Baiyun in Guangzhou. After discharge, he directly joined an auto parts platform responsible for market expansion.

2015 was the golden age of the auto aftermarket. With the continuous rise in vehicle ownership and capital injection, the aftermarket was a bona fide star track at that time.

At that time, Xiao Zou was also facing the choice between being a "big factory worker" and a "small business owner."

After much consideration, Xiao Zou decided to choose a reliable platform to return to his hometown in Puning and develop this "virgin land" of the aftermarket.

Doing business in a small place means you can't afford losses, so low cost and small investment are important considerations, making the entry threshold a key factor in choosing a platform.

After several comparisons, the low-threshold franchising and 0 inventory advantages of Baturu attracted him.

Inventory is mostly a hard requirement for auto parts franchising, and compared to maintenance consumables, full vehicle parts have high inventory costs. If turnover has any issues, cash flow is immediately affected, with risks too high.

Baturu does not require partners to hold inventory, minimizing store risks and startup costs to the greatest extent.

Soon, Xiao Zou decided to sign the franchise agreement, leveraging the platform's advantages to officially root himself in Puning as a "city partner" and take the first steps in his auto parts entrepreneurship.

2. Near Hometown: Starting a Business at Home, More Confidence

Zhou Suwen（《The 12-Year Veteran’s Entrepreneurial Journey from Insurance to Auto Parts》）, who drifted in Guangzhou for over a decade, is also one of those returning against the flow to start a business.

Different from many others, Brother Zhou has always been looking for an opportunity to "return home."

Brother Zhou once worked in the insurance industry for 8 years doing auto claims assessment, dealing with auto parts every day. Later, he switched to doing auto parts business with his own brothers on Guangyuan Road, accumulating quite a few resources along the way, making the road home shorter.

In 2018, an old friend from a repair shop recommended Baturu’s city partner project to him. With a try-it-out mindset, he signed for the Kaiping market.

Back in his familiar hometown, Brother Zhou fully leveraged the advantages of doing business right at his doorstep. The hometown is small; the clients he wants to find or people he wants to know can be reached by tapping into nearby resources.

Leveraging such advantages, Brother Zhou visited all sizes of repair shops in Kaiping within 3 months, first getting familiar with clients, then with 4S stores and insurance resources imported by the platform, he gradually built up the auto parts market in Kaiping.

"Small places have their advantages: it's a society of acquaintances, living in a circle of familiar people, with help for doing things, and before long, friendships are built. Plus, it's close to home, so I can take care of family, unlike in big cities where without a household registration, no house, no family ties, you don't know anyone except colleagues."

In the past two years, under the shadow of the pandemic, starting a business in small cities shows even more advantages, with greater flexibility in services and logistics, and less anxiety and panic.

Brother Zhou's store is right by the roadside. Due to the pandemic, the shop door is half-closed, but business has increased instead of decreased. With Baturu’s full vehicle parts operation system support, clients inquire and order online, and any issues can be resolved through online communication.

After 3 p.m. every day is Brother Zhou's busiest time, the peak period for client inquiries and orders, with his computer beeping non-stop...

3. Return Home: Not a Retreat, But a Way Out

The best advantage of the lower-tier market is the ability to leverage local characteristics of the hometown and the service capabilities of a big platform to gain competitive advantages.

According to statistics, in 2021, nearly 20% ofBaturu franchisees were returnees starting businesses. Additionally, 20% of franchisees signed at least one new branch in cross-regional areas locally, with nearly 40 franchisees achieving over one million in monthly sales.

In 2020, Baturu’s city partner program was upgraded to franchisees, granting franchisees more flexibility to expand the local market and jointly serve repair shop clients well.

In the second year of franchising, with platform resource imports, Xiao Zou’s client volume and performance doubled directly, establishing a foothold in the Puning market.

As the franchise model upgraded and performance rose, Xiao Zou began building a team, refining services, and taking on the role of a small boss. Besides visiting clients, he now has more time to spend with family outside of work.

Brother Zhou also signed the Taishan area on top of his original base and gathered a few friends to partner together, continuing to grow his business.

Previously focused on repair shop clients, now with Baturu’s support team "landing" again, they are helping his team expand 4S client resources. He jokes that he now checks in at 4S stores every afternoon on schedule.

Some say third- and fourth-tier cities are a double-edged sword: fewer opportunities, less vitality. But for some auto parts entrepreneurs, the lower-tier market represents another kind of opportunity—less of the ups and downs from pandemic impacts, and more of the human touch of the hometown.